Frank ran into the diner, Gerard hot on his heels as he cradled Missile Kid to his chest. "Dr D!" He shouted as he came to a stop outside his room, the sound of the radio filling the corridor. "Open the hell up Dr D!" Frank kicked the door, his breathing heavy as Gerard came up behind him. On the other side of the door, silence reigned before the door creaked open, Damon staring at the immobile form in Frank's arms before motioning them into the room.
"What happened?" Dr D asked, wheeling his chair over to the desk as Gerard cleared it off to make room for Missile's prone form.
"She followed us. She came to the drop off point with us." Gerard explained, his breathing slowing as he watched for signs of movement. "There were too many Drac's. We couldn't keep them busy so she could get out of there. They shot her D." A sad look crossed his face as he looked upon the burn marks marring her skin.
"Damon, get me the first aid kit, Frank, Gerard, get the hell out of here and get some sleep." They both nodded and left the room, throwing a glance over their shoulders as Dr D placed a needle just under the flesh on Missile's arm.

Frank paced the diner, his face contorting with anger. He refused to look at anyone, ignoring the questioning looks from Mikey and Ray when they walked in, a can of Power Pup in each hand. Mikey handed a can to Gerard and sat down, using his older brothers shoulder as a headrest. "What happened Gee?" He asked, disgust filling his face as his cracked open the can and spooned some of the food into his mouth.
"Missile kid." Gerard responded bluntly, his eyes following Frank around the room before settling on the unopened can in front of him.
"Shit, is she okay?" Mikey asked, stabbing his spoon into the can.
"No." Frank snapped, coming to a stop in front of the table. "This is my fucking fault she's like this. If I had just checked the trunk then she would still be okay. Now she's laying there, unable to move because I got her shot!" He punched the table top causing Ray to jump slightly before resuming his pacing, his legs beginning to tire from the non stop movement.
"Frank, it's not..." Ray began, trying to convince his friend to stop pacing.
"Don't you fucking dare tell me this isn't my fault Toro. I was the one that was meant to check the car, I was the one that was meant to do this run alone. It's bad enough that Gerard came with me but the fact that Missile snuck out to come with us? It's my fucking fault!" He snapped before turning and walking from the room.
"Give him time." Whispered Gerard as he spooned up his last mouthful of Power Pup before climbing to his feet and dumping the can in the trash. "He'll be okay." He said, assuring himself more than anyone else.

---

Frank sat on the bonnet of eight legs, his head resting on his knees as he looked towards the horizon, his breathing steady as he calmed himself. He knew that snapping at Ray was wrong but he wasn't ready to go back in to apologise. Frank also knew that it was his fault that Missile got shot and he knew that no-one would change his mind. "Heya Frank." Whispered Beth, her voice breaking the silence. "Look, I know you probably aren't going to answer me, but she's okay. Dr D has her hooked up to some meds and she should wake up soon." Frank closed his eyes, lowering his face until no-one could see it, leaving tears free to roll down his cheeks. Beth stood next to eight legs, her hands on the hot metal before standing up straight and brushing her hands off. "Anyway, I thought I would let you know so you stopped blaming yourself." She muttered before walking off, leaving Frank to wallow in his self pity.

His eyes snapped open as a sound roared through the night. Frank's first reaction was to reach for his gun, the familiar flash of red from Mikey's jacket causing him to drop his guard. "Hey bud." Mikey muttered as he climbed onto the bonnet beside Frank.
"Hi." Frank whispered, his voice hoarse from the crying.
"You gonna come in to get some sleep or are you going to sleep out here?" Mikey asked, gaining a shrug from Frank as a response. Mikey sighed before speaking again. "You're coming inside Frank." He ordered before sliding down and dragging Frank with him. Supporting the half-asleep killjoy, Mikey walked back into the diner and lay him down on a bed mat, throwing a blanket over him as his eyes drifted closed.

---

"So we need to go on another run Dr D." Beth stated, looking at the lack of medical supplies in the cupboard. "We can't look after Missile without them. You know that."
"I know, I just don't want to send them out again yet, not until Frank has calmed down, stopped blaming himself for this." Dr D muttered, his hands fluttering over Missile to make sure she was comfortable. "We can make do for a couple more days."
"You know we can't. You know we need those meds." Beth whispered as she ran her fingers through Missile's hair.
"Wake them up, tell them to go into Battery City if they can't find what I need in the other zones." Dr D sighed, wheeling himself over towards the microphone and radio, turning it on in hope of hearing something, anything from anywhere else.

Beth walked slowly into the diner, her footsteps echoing off of the walls as she came to a stop inside the doorway, her eyes flicking over the sleeping forms before walking quietly to Gerard, poking him with her toes to wake her up. "Wha?" He asked as his eyes sprung open, a yawn breaking free as he looked up at Beth.
"We need medical supplies. Dr D said you have to look in the outer zones before risking Battery City." She explained, getting a nod off Gerard in reply.
"I'll get them up." He muttered, rolling off the diner bench and climbing to his feet. Gerard worked his way to Ray kicking him in the side before walking towards Frank and Mikey, kicking Mikey who, in turn, slapped Frank. Beth smiled as they all glared at Gerard before leaving the room, allowing them all the privacy to change.

---

Gerard gunned the engine, driving fast down Route Guano as he headed into the inhabited zones. Mikey took shotgun, his breathing even as he looked over his shoulder, observing a silent Frank and a tired Ray, his head lolling forwards before snapping upright. Frank had hundreds of thoughts running through his head, his eyes glazing over as each one came to the forefront on his mind. Their guns were charged, ready for up to three hours of battle each, all of them wishing they didn't have to use them. "We got a car on our tails." Gerard muttered, his eyes flicking up to the rearview mirror and back down again. Frank and Ray looked at each other and nodded before swinging round and climbing out of the window, sitting on the door frames as the aimed their guns, Frank taking down the Drac in the driver's seat, sending the car skidding into the brush by the side of the road. "Remember, we go by our nicknames now." He explained, yanking the wheel to the left as a Drac on a bike drove past, reaching out for Ray as he fired a carefully aimed shot at his head, smoke issuing from the wound as the bike careened into the car.

Frank sighed as they came to a stop, his eyes roaming over the derelict buildings before coming to a stop on a flickering red cross, the sign of the only pharmacy in the slums. Mikey and Gerard climbed out, hovering by the doors with their hands on their guns as Frank and Ray stepped out, pulling their masks over their heads. With a collective nod, they walked towards the building, people shying into doorways and alleys as the group walked past, their posture saying they wouldn't take any shit.

The door creaked as they pushed it open, musty air rushing out to greet them. With their hands on the buttts of their guns, they followed Gee into the building, splitting off and scanning each of the aisles for anyone that might hurt them. "Clear." Called Gerard.
"Empty." Answered Ray.
"Safe." Muttered Mikey. Silence reigned whilst they waited for a reply from Frank, nothing breaking the heaviness in the air.
"Ghoul?" They called collectively, a tiny whimper sending them running to the back of the store. "Fuck." Muttered Gerard as he set eyes on his friend. "Hands up!" He ordered the figure in front of Frank. There was no reply and the figures arms stayed by his side.
"Get what you need and get out of here Poison. Kobra, I need a hand. If I move one step from here, this place is gonna blow. Jet, help Poison." They nodded, not understanding the orders they were being given. "Kobra, you need to find out where the mechanism is and find something else to weigh it down with. I can't step from this spot unless you want to die." Mikey nodded and ran to the front of the store, searching for something that could be used to weigh down a trigger mat, his eyes resting on a trash can filled with BLI mind control pills.

He dragged it towards the back of the store and started inspecting the mechanism, his eyes roaming the floor until they spotted the outline of the mat. To his right was a long pole, long enough to wedge on top of the shelves for Frank to pull himself up on. "Poison, Jet, you got what you need?" Mikey called, his voice shaking.
"Yeah." Jet called back as Poison came running.
"We need to get out of here now, Drac's are swarming the streets." Mikey nodded, looking at Frank with fear as he started to sway.
"I need you to grab the pole Ghoul, pull yourself up on it whilst me and Poison push this trash can onto the mat. Poison, we have three seconds to do it or boom." He explained, miming an explosion with his hands. They both nodded, Poison and Kobra waiting for Frank to ready himself before pulling his body up onto the pole. Within seconds, he was prepared to jump, Mikey taking the first move and grabbing a handle and pulling the bin onto the mat, his heart thumping as Frank's arms started to shake, his strength failing him.

Gunshots could be heard from outside as Frank dropped to the floor, his face coated in a sheen of sweat. "Come on." He muttered, his hands shaking as he tried to ready his gun. They stepped outside, giving Poison cover fire as he ran towards the car, starting the engine and pulling towards the gang, Jet and Kobra climbing in the back as Ghoul fired cover shots, his shoulder flying backwards as he got his, a gasp escaping his lips as another shot hit him in the thigh. Somehow, he managed to climb into the car, leaning out of the window to fire on the approaching Drac's as they sped into the distance.

---

Frank sat on one of the benches, away from everyone else as he checked his shoulder, rubbing a salve onto the burning flesh, wincing as it stung him. "Why?" He hissed as the skin bubbled before pressing some gauze onto the wound and securing it with tape. Frank pulled his shirt back on, reaching down to unbuckle his pants so he could tend to his thigh, a slight scream escaping his gritted teeth as the denim rubbed over the raw flesh. Damon stepped into the diner, chuckling slightly as he observed the way everyone was avoiding looking at Frank.
"Dr D say's he can smell the burning flesh and do you want any help?"
"Do I want help? No. That's a stupid question." Frank snapped as he placed a gauze pad over the burn to clean away the blood. Once he pulled it away, he placed a clean pad over, wrapping a bandage around his thigh and tying it off.

Notes

Hiya Killjoys,

I'm kind of testing the water for a new story so yeah, let me know what you think (good or bad) and I'll decide whether to carry it on or not.
Obviously, this has what I have dubbed first chapter syndrome where nothing really good happens and it just feels like what could be described as a filler chapter.
I'll aim to update twice a week if this gets enough attention or interest, if not, I might just add coming soon to the title and put it off completely.

---

Competition: -

Right, I will need characters for this, so the competition is to create me a character profile. It will need to be messaged to me privately or left in the comments (I will accept either or you could message them to me on tumblr).

There are some rules that I wish for people to follow, so please, follow them or I will not accept your entry.

1. If someone places their entry in the comments, please respect their creativity and do not try and pass that character off as your own (I will be checking dates things are commented)
2. If you message me on tumblr, it cannot be on anon because I will not accept the entry as I cannot give you credit for the character.
3. Any images included must have credit to the source and, unless it is your own, you cannot claim it is.
4. I will not accept degrading of any people's characters that are left in the comments. Anyone who does will be immediately disqualified and banned from future competitions (some which may include material prizes)
5. Please entitle all messages on here and tumblr, and comments with Killjoy Character Comp so I know what it is relevant to as I have more than one competition in mind for this month
6. The date for final entries will be 9pm (UK time) on the 14th of February.

Right, here is what the entry needs to contain: -

• Full name
• Age
• Ethnic origin*
• Killjoy name
• Birthday
• Family/ friends*
• A basic profile of their habits and pet hates*
• Hobbies*
• A description/ drawing of their costume
• A picture of them*

*These are optional, you do not have to add these but it gives me more to describe them on and I can create a more in depth character for the reader.

Have fun killjoys :3

~~Elise-Iero